Paymar's "gun Show Loophole" bill rears its ugly head again

[plblark]

Over on the Carry Forum, there's been some discussion (Craig101 and Kimberman)
of this bill: HF2960 (Bill Text)

A bill for an act relating to public safety; requiring background check for transfer of a firearm at a gun show; providing a penalty; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota

Statutes, chapter 624.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1. [624.7133] BACKGROUND CHECKS; GUN SHOWS.

Subdivision 1. Definitions. (a) For the purposes of this section, the terms in this subdivision have the meanings given them.
(b) "Exhibitor" means a person who exhibits, sells, offers for sale, transfers, or exchanges any firearm at a gun show, and arranges with a gun show promoter for a fixed location from which to exhibit, sell, offer for sale, transfer, or exchange any firearm.
(c) "Gun show" means the entire premises open to the public for the event or function, that is sponsored and has the primary purpose of facilitating, in whole or in part, the purchase, sale, or offer for sale, of firearms at which 25 or more firearms are offered for transfer, and three or more persons are offering one or more firearms for transfer. The "entire premises" includes, but is not limited to, parking areas and areas open to the public that are used by attendees during the event or function, and includes the area within 300 feet, or one city block, whichever is greater, of the event or function.
(d) "Gun show promoter" means a person who organizes or operates a gun show.

Subd. 2. Background check. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, a person shall not transfer a firearm at a gun show without using the services of a federally licensed firearms dealer to conduct a background check on the proposed transferee in the same manner, and in compliance with state and federal law, as if the licensed firearms dealer were transferring the firearm. A gun show promoter shall arrange for the services of one or more federally licensed firearms dealers on the premises of the gun show to obtain the background checks required under this section.

Subd. 3. Transfer of firearm. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, a person shall not offer or agree to sell or transfer a firearm to another person at a gun show and then transfer or deliver the firearm to the person at a location other than the gun show for the purpose of evading or avoiding compliance with subdivision 2.

Subd. 4. False statements. A person, in connection with the acquisition or attempted acquisition of a firearm from any other person, shall not knowingly make any false or fictitious oral or written statement or provide or exhibit any false, fictitious, or misrepresented identification that is intended or likely to deceive with respect to any fact material to the lawfulness of the sale or other disposition of a firearm under federal or state law.

Subd. 5. Notice. A gun show promoter shall prominently post a notice, in a form prescribed by the commissioner of public safety or the commissioner's designee, stating the requirements for background checks under this section. The promoter shall also notify in writing all exhibitors individually of the requirements.

Subd. 6. Penalty. A person who violates any part of subdivisions 2 to 5 is guilty of a gross misdemeanor and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than one year or to payment of a fine of not more than $3,000, or both.

Subd. 7. Exclusions. This section does not apply to:
(1) transfers to or between federally licensed firearms dealers; and
(2) transfers of antique firearms as defined in section 624.712, subdivision 3.

EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective August 1, 2010, and applies to crimes committed on or after that date.

The bill is currently in the Public Safety Policy and Oversight Committee and was further referred to the Crime Victims/Criminal Records Division Committee
and will probably also be handled by the Public Safety Finance Division as well

Here's the short text I sent (from Kimberman http://www.carryforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=15025)

I urge you to vigorously OPPOSE Rep. Paymar's new bill to harass Minnesota gun owners who make private sales of their firearms. These sales have always been legal in Minnesota.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms identifies gun shows as the source of fewer than 2% of the guns acquired by criminals. Virtually all of those guns, like those used in the Va. Tech. and NIU murders, are bought from licensed dealers by persons who have PASSED the federal background check. There is no "loophole," certainly none big enough to justify the burden this bill will place on Minnesota's 1.5 million gun owners.

Now is the time to oppose this harassment.

Here's the list of the membership of all three committees (excluding Paymar and Mullery) Paste it into the BCC field of your e-mail.

Comma seperated (most e-mail programs)
Representative Debra Hilstrom - DFL 46B <rep.debra.hilstrom@house.mn>, Representative Karla Bigham - DFL 57A <rep.karla.bigham@house.mn>, Representative Bruce Anderson - R 19A <rep.bruce.anderson@house.mn>, Representative Tony Cornish - R 24B <rep.tony.cornish@house.mn>, Representative Steve Drazkowski - R 28B <rep.steve.drazkowski@house.mn>, Representative Gail Kulick Jackson - DFL 16A <rep.gailkulick.jackson@house.mn>, Representative Sheldon Johnson - DFL 67B <rep.sheldon.johnson@house.mn>, Representative Kory Kath - DFL 26A <rep.kory.kath@house.mn>, Representative Tim Kelly - R 28A <rep.tim.kelly@house.mn>, Representative Paul Kohls - R 34A <rep.paul.kohls@house.mn>, Representative John Lesch - DFL 66A <rep.john.lesch@house.mn>, Representative Sandra Masin - DFL 38A <rep.sandra.masin@house.mn>, Representative Dave Olin - DFL 01A <rep.dave.olin@house.mn>, Representative Paul Rosenthal -DFL 64B <rep.paul.rosenthal@house.mn>, Representative Ron Shimanski - R 18A <rep.ron.shimanski@house.mn >, Representative Jenifer Loon - R 42B <rep.jenifer.loon@house.mn>, Representative Rob Eastlund - R 17A <rep.rob.eastlund@house.mn>, Representative Larry Haws - DFL 15B <rep.larry.haws@house.mn>, Representative Larry Hosch - DFL 14B <rep.larry.hosch@house.mn>, Representative Carolyn Laine - DFL 50A <rep.carolyn.laine@house.mn>, Representative Tina Liebling - DFL 30A <rep.tina.liebling@house.mn>, Representative Roger Reinert - DFL 07B <rep.roger.reinert@house.mn>, Representative Dan Severson - R 14A <rep.dan.severson@house.mn>, Representative Steve Smith - R 33A <rep.steve.smith@house.mn>, Representative John Ward - DFL 12A <rep.john.ward@house.mn>

Semi-colon Seperated (Outlook, some others)
Representative Debra Hilstrom - DFL 46B <rep.debra.hilstrom@house.mn>; Representative Karla Bigham - DFL 57A <rep.karla.bigham@house.mn>; Representative Bruce Anderson - R 19A <rep.bruce.anderson@house.mn>; Representative Tony Cornish - R 24B <rep.tony.cornish@house.mn>; Representative Steve Drazkowski - R 28B <rep.steve.drazkowski@house.mn>; Representative Gail Kulick Jackson - DFL 16A <rep.gailkulick.jackson@house.mn>; Representative Sheldon Johnson - DFL 67B <rep.sheldon.johnson@house.mn>; Representative Kory Kath - DFL 26A <rep.kory.kath@house.mn>; Representative Tim Kelly - R 28A <rep.tim.kelly@house.mn>; Representative Paul Kohls - R 34A <rep.paul.kohls@house.mn>; Representative John Lesch - DFL 66A <rep.john.lesch@house.mn>; Representative Sandra Masin - DFL 38A <rep.sandra.masin@house.mn>; Representative Dave Olin - DFL 01A <rep.dave.olin@house.mn>; Representative Paul Rosenthal -DFL 64B <rep.paul.rosenthal@house.mn>; Representative Ron Shimanski - R 18A <rep.ron.shimanski@house.mn >; Representative Jenifer Loon - R 42B <rep.jenifer.loon@house.mn>; Representative Rob Eastlund - R 17A <rep.rob.eastlund@house.mn>; Representative Larry Haws - DFL 15B <rep.larry.haws@house.mn>; Representative Larry Hosch - DFL 14B <rep.larry.hosch@house.mn>; Representative Carolyn Laine - DFL 50A <rep.carolyn.laine@house.mn>; Representative Tina Liebling - DFL 30A <rep.tina.liebling@house.mn>; Representative Roger Reinert - DFL 07B <rep.roger.reinert@house.mn>; Representative Dan Severson - R 14A <rep.dan.severson@house.mn>; Representative Steve Smith - R 33A <rep.steve.smith@house.mn>; Representative John Ward - DFL 12A <rep.john.ward@house.mn>

[VikesFan1]

Thanks for keeping up, and posting this.

[plblark]

None of us is in this alone. I had help with bird dogging the bill in the first place, and the language and then I ran with it.

The important part is for EVERY one of us to spread the word and make our voives heard.

Paul

[DanM]

I urge you to vigorously OPPOSE Rep. Paymar's new bill to harass Minnesota gun owners who make private sales of their firearms. These sales have always been legal in Minnesota.

[b]The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms identifies gun shows as the source of fewer than 2% of the guns acquired by criminals.[/b] Virtually all of those guns, like those used in the Va. Tech. and NIU murders, are bought from licensed dealers by persons who have PASSED the federal background check. There is no "loophole," certainly none big enough to justify the burden this bill will place on Minnesota's 1.5 million gun owners.

Now is the time to oppose this harassment.

plblark, it was an FBI report and it stated 0.7% of guns used in crimes were traceable to gun shows. I can't get past the filters here at work to cite the report for you. Someone else could post the reference, or I will post it tonight.

[plblark]

THANK YOU, if you can come back and Cite it, I'll work on fixing it in future efforts

[scout]

I copy and pasted the e-mail above and sent it this morning

[DanM]

I urge you to vigorously OPPOSE Rep. Paymar's new bill to harass Minnesota gun owners who make private sales of their firearms. These sales have always been legal in Minnesota.

[b]The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms identifies gun shows as the source of fewer than 2% of the guns acquired by criminals.[/b] Virtually all of those guns, like those used in the Va. Tech. and NIU murders, are bought from licensed dealers by persons who have PASSED the federal background check. There is no "loophole," certainly none big enough to justify the burden this bill will place on Minnesota's 1.5 million gun owners.

Now is the time to oppose this harassment.

plblark, it was an FBI report and it stated 0.7% of guns used in crimes were traceable to gun shows. I can't get past the filters here at work to cite the report for you. Someone else could post the reference, or I will post it tonight.

Found it. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report:
"Firearms Used By Offenders, Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities". http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/fuo.pdf

Apparently this is an update of the 1991 and 1997 studies. Published in 2001, revised in 2002.

The 0.7% figure appears on the first page, in the 'Source of Gun' table. Next to which is bullet point text stating: "In 1997 among State inmates possessing a gun, fewer than 2% bought their firearm at a flea market or gun show," which could confuse the point being made in the adjacent table. Flea markets and gun shows are different venues. The anti's are targeting gun shows. So it's appropriate to speak to their argument and provide federal statistics on guns bought at gun shows and then used in crimes.

[plblark]

thank you for the link. We'll see what the cite is from kimberman.

[JJ]

Thanks Paul for the info. I posted it on another board that is hunter heavy, and emailed it myself. Keep us informed!

[princewally]

The bill to close the gun show loophole, HF 2960/SF 2659, will be get a hearing in before the Crime Victims/ Criminal Records division of the House Public Safety committee this Friday, March 5 at 8:30 a.m. in Room 5 of the State Office Building!

Please contact every member of the House Public Safety committee. DO IT NOW.

Will someone post a contact list. Thanks.

rep.john.lesch@house.mn, rep.ron.shimanski@house.mn, rep.debra.hilstrom@house.mn, rep.kory.kath@house.mn,rep.paul.kohls@house.mn, rep.jenifer.loon@house.mn, rep.dave.olin@house.mn, rep.michael.paymar@house.mn

Edit: Here's the list from the NRA email I just got.

Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher (DFL-60A)

651-296-0171

rep.margaret.kelliher@house.mn



Majority Leader Tony Sertich (DFL-5B)

651-296-0172

rep.tony.sertich@house.mn


Sub-Committee on Crime Victims/Criminal Records



State Representative Debra Hilstrom (DFL-46B)

651-296-3709

rep.debra.hilstrom@house.mn



State Representative Kory Kath (DFL-26A)

651-296-5368

rep.kory.kath@house.mn



State Representative Paul Kohls (DFL-34A)

651-296-4282

rep.paul.kohls@house.mn



State Representative John Lesch (DFL-66A)

651-296-4224

rep.john.lesch@house.mn



State Representative Dave Olin (DFL-1A)

651-296-9635

rep.dave.olin@house.mn



State Representative Ron Shimanski (R-18A)

651-296-1534

rep.ron.shimanski@house.mn



State Representative Jenifer Loon (R-42B)

651-296-7449

rep.jenifer.loon@house.mn

[DeanC]

THANK YOU, if you can come back and Cite it, I'll work on fixing it in future efforts

[ComradeBurg]

E-mails away. Hopefully I'll have time to do some phone calls later today.

[nyffman]

Shimanski replied almost immediately. The guy's definitely on our side. Other than a couple roboreplies, no other answers.

[DeanC]

Claim: Criminals get their guns at gun shows

Fact: According to a November 2001 Study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics of state and federal prison inmates, less than one percent (0.7) of criminals acquire their guns from gun shows.

Claim: There is a gun show "loophole"

Fact: There is nothing you can do inside a gun show that you cannot do outside a gun show. If you are a licensed firearms dealer, you must run a federal background check on any individual you sell a firearm to. If you do not regularly sell firearms, you do not need to run a background check – whether at a gun show or anywhere else.

Fact: The firearms industry has never opposed an instant background check requirement for all firearms sold at gun shows.

[nyffman]

Fact: The firearms industry has never opposed an instant background check requirement for all firearms sold at gun shows.

I received an email from the NRA late last night. So, they are not together on this one.